Poda Protected Area

Worth a detour

A thin strip of lagoon and reedbed pinched between the Sozopol road and the sea, and the easiest serious birdwatching in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds runs a centre here with a tower, hides, telescopes and staff who will tell you what you are looking at. Late August and September, when storks and raptors pour down the coast, is the spectacle worth planning around.

Story

Background

Poda has been protected since 1989 and has been managed by BSPB ever since, with a conservation centre open on the site since 1997. The society's own count stands at 321 bird species recorded here — something like a quarter of the European list, from a place you can walk round in an hour. That is geography rather than size: the Via Pontica funnels soaring birds round the western end of the Black Sea, and this is where they are squeezed hardest.

The local speciality is the breeding colony, the only mixed one on the Bulgarian coast, with spoonbill, glossy ibis and several heron species nesting together in view of the hide. Winter shifts the interest offshore, to pygmy cormorant and Dalmatian pelican in the bay.

Practically: open daily, roughly nine to five, about €4 for adults and €2.50 for students, with bus 17 running out from Burgas South station. Do not be put off by the setting — the port, the road and the industry are all close, and the birds have made their peace with them. Bring your own binoculars if you have them, though the centre will lend you optics.